Mayor Thomas Nitzsche: "The Future Center wants to come to Jena"

One day before the deadline, the city of Jena submitted the application documents for the "Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation" to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development in Cottbus. In addition to the letter of support from the Thuringian state government, letters of support from well-known companies, scientific institutions and civil society actors from Jena, Thuringia, Jena's partner cities and the Eastern European partner networks were also included, including from Emil Constantinescu, former President of Romania, the former Chairman of the International Council of Science, Gordon McBean, Carl Zeiss AG, Jenoptik AG, Schott AG, Club of Rome and the Leibnitz Institute on Aging. The city is entering the bidding process with two unanimous city council resolutions to support the bid and to transfer land to the federal government. A unanimous senate resolution of the Friedrich Schiller University, which is applying for the Future Center together with the city of Jena, gives Jena's application additional weight.

The communication campaign "The future remains different" with the central website www.diezukunftbleibtanders.de(link is external) also provided a tailwind for Jena's application. In recent months, more than half a million people have been reached with information about the Future Center in Jena via the website, social media and at public events. They were invited to share their own stories of upheaval and new beginnings. In addition, some transformation stories of people from Eastern Europe were made visible by the fact that two members of the Jena application team embarked on a journey that took them through 10 Eastern European countries in 10 days. No other applicant city has already made concrete experiences of transformation visible to this extent and provided starting points for the future work of the Future Center in Jena.

At a press conference held today, Thursday, September 29, 2022, on the occasion of the submission of the application documents at the Thuringian State Representation in Berlin, Minister President Bodo Ramelow reaffirmed the Thuringian state government's support for Jena as the future location of the Future Center:

"Jena's application is a stroke of luck. Jena fulfills all the requirements formulated by the federal government as part of the location competition in an excellent manner.Thanks in particular to its collaboration with Friedrich Schiller University, Jena plays a significant leading role when it comes to researching and implementing projects on future topics. "

Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche said at the presentation of the application concept :

"Jena has its own transformation story to tell, which is special for an East German city of this size. In addition to the upheavals and upheavals of the reunification period, Jena can also tell of new beginnings, new opportunities and successful development. I am convinced that a future center can only function where local society has experienced both and where this diversity of experiences can be reflected."

He also emphasized the advantages of Jena as a location:

"With Eichplatz, Jena has an ideal location for the Future Center: right in the center, with an eventful history of transformation and still a symbol of democracy and civic participation today. No other candidate city has a comparably central square in the city centre that is characterized by such a high quality of life and where visitors really want to spend time. It is clear to me that we want the Future Center in Jena, but also vice versa: the Future Center itself wants to be in Jena."

In addition to the attractive location, a committed civil society and Jena's very own history of transformation, the city also brings an excellent scientific landscape and an extensive network to Eastern Europe to the application for the Future Center.

Prof. Walter Rosenthal, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, said :

"Jena has an excellent scientific landscape and is an internationally renowned center for transformation research. The Friedrich Schiller University Jena and several local research institutions have long been concerned with the causes, effects and experiences of upheavals, both before and in particular after 1989/90, but also with upheavals of the present and future. In Jena, excellent social scientists are conducting research and developing scenarios on how the transformations we are facing can succeed. A future center in Jena will benefit enormously from these synergy effects. The University Senate also sees this and has unanimously pledged the support of the entire university to the Future Center."

The Future Center will be established in Jena in the immediate vicinity of the Imre Kertész Kolleg. Through this research college, the Future Center is directly connected to numerous partners in Eastern Europe. The Managing Director of the Imre Kertész Kolleg, Daniela Gruber, said at the presentation:

"No applicant city has such a far-reaching network into Eastern Europe. Over the past twelve years, the Imre Kertész Kolleg 'Eastern Europe in the 20th Century' has created an academic network in the region with its extensive fellowship program with over 150 visiting scholars, which extends from East Central Europe to Southeast Europe and the successor states of the Soviet Union. It is a unique network in this form, which offers a very promising and fruitful environment for the Future Center, from which the future research based there can only benefit. This is a real locational advantage that enables research work at the center to begin almost immediately."

What distinguishes the Jena application and speaks for the Jena location

Transformation is actively shaped in Jena

• In Jena - as in every other region of East Germany - the social and economic upheavals and upheavals that followed the Peaceful Revolution after 1989 were clearly felt throughout East Germany and Eastern Europe. Mass redundancies took place.
• However, Jena has its own transformation story to tell, one that is special for an East German city of its size and is characterized by new beginnings and reorientation. Since reunification, the city has developed successfully.
• A look at Jena's surrounding area makes the heterogeneity even clearer. New, prospering companies such as Analytik AG, Abbott or INTERSHOP in Jena are juxtaposed with companies that have been wound up, such as the Pößneck-based roller bearing manufacturer ROTASYM. Shrinking cities with a thinned-out social infrastructure form a contrast to Jena, which is experiencing an (inter)national influx.
• The future center must do one thing: do justice to the heterogeneity of these experiences in eastern Germany and eastern Europe - which differ significantly depending on origin, socialization and level of education - and reflect the diversity of people's individual experiences. Cities from the Jena region were therefore directly involved in the application process for the Future Center.

As a place of democratic participation and a strong civil society, Jena is a breeding ground for the Future Center

• Jena is a place where success can be experienced through democratic participation.
• For many years, right-wing extremism in Jena served as an example of transformation with a dark side. The perpetrators of the NSU came from Jena.
• It is thanks to a strong civil society and a strong network of political education actors that the consequences of the transformation of right-wing extremism in Jena could be successfully combated. Today, Jena stands for the successful repression of right-wing extremism. The city has faced up to this process of coming to terms with the past and continues to do so today. Last year, Jena attracted nationwide attention with the "Kein Schlussstrich" program.
• The diversity of commitment in Jena is a "breeding ground" for the civil society work of the planned Future Center. Jena has an urban society that will appropriate the center and turn it into a lively place. This means that what the center should radiate will be lived out on site in the center: Transformation must be democratically shaped together in order to be successful.

Jena has an attractive location in the heart of the city center

• Eichplatz in Jena is an ideal location for the future center: right in the city center, less than 400 meters from the train station, with an eventful history of transformation and still a symbol of democracy and civic participation today.
• No other candidate city can offer such a central location in the city center where visitors really want to spend time, as the surrounding area is characterized by a high quality of life - cafés, restaurants, other museums, the Jena Theaterhaus, the ZEISS Planetarium, the Botanical Gardens, Paradise Park as the green lung of the city, the Saale river as a local recreation area - all of this is within a radius of 500 meters from the Future Center.
• Eichplatz is a symbol of transformation and cooperative urban development with active citizen participation: For decades, the design of the area was fought and argued over, with four planning procedures failing. Based on this experience, the city decided on an extensive public participation process in 2015. The urban development framework plan for the Eichplatz area is the result of a workshop and participation process. Other applicant cities first have to start a participation process. The city of Jena already has the framework plan for the development of the process.
• The Future Center will take up an immense amount of space in Jena's city center. It is not only the city that is handing over land to the federal government, but also the University of Jena. This underlines the partner application and close cooperation between the city and the university, which is unique among the applicant cities.

Jena is a location of scientific excellence and a center for transformation research

• Jena has an excellent scientific landscape and is an internationally renowned center for transformation research. The Friedrich Schiller University Jena and a large number of other research institutions have long been concerned with the effects and experiences of upheaval. Well-known and renowned social scientists conduct research on transformations in Jena.
• The University of Jena has many years of outstanding expertise in researching transformations before and especially after 1989/1990, both with regard to (East) Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe:

• Not only expertise in research before and after 89/90, but also a strong focus on the present in the social sciences characterize Jena as an academic location. Questions of current research projects include How is the handling of climate change and the necessary socio-ecological transformation of our society, or the growing skepticism or even threat to basic democratic values determined by the transformations of recent decades?
• The university is supporting Irina Scherbakowa and Memorial - the International Society for Historical Enlightenment, Human Rights and Social Welfare - to continue their academic work in exile. Prof. Scherbakowa's stay is partly funded by the Thuringian State Chancellery and mainly by the Körber Foundation. She is in direct contact with the Imre Kértész Kolleg.From January 01, 2023, she will have an endowed position at her disposal.The university will provide the archivist of Memorial Russia with a staff position for two years.

Jena has a unique network to Eastern Europe with the Imre Kertész Kolleg

• Over the past twelve years, the Imre Kertész Kolleg "Eastern Europe in the 20th Century" has created an academic network in Eastern Europe with its extensive fellowship program (over 150 visiting academics), which extends from East Central Europe to South Eastern Europe and the successor states of the Soviet Union. No other applicant city can boast such an extensive network in Eastern Europe.
• One research focus at the Imre Kertész Kolleg is "Challenges of Modernity" with transformation and social change. The aim is to promote a better understanding of the experiences of Central and Eastern Europe in the interwar period, during socialism and in the transformation processes after 1989 and their deep social upheavals.
• Since summer 2021, a research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation has been running in a network between Jena, Erfurt, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw.
• "Cultures of History Forum" is an online journal based at the Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena that examines how the societies of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe debate and reflect on history.

The vision for a future center in Jena

• An open citizens' house for cross-border remembrance, research and discussion
  • The Future Center will not only be a place for science and politics, but also a lively workshop and an innovative forum in which visitors can search for sustainable solutions to current challenges in Germany and throughout Europe based on their own experiences and the experiences of others.
• Democratic: a place of learning for active citizen participation and the strengthening of democratic skills
  • In view of the declining support for parliamentary democracy, the popularity of right-wing populist positions and the hardening of the social debate in eastern Germany, eastern Europe and beyond, strengthening democracy and the skills required for it must be a central concern of the planned future center. Jena can contribute its experience in shaping democratic processes and broad civic participation.
• Together: the diversity of initiatives and networks in Jena, the region and Central and Eastern Europe will become a breeding ground for civil society cooperation.
  • The Future Center will be a place that encourages participation and allows visitors to experience transformation as something that can be shaped together in democratic cooperation.
  • In this sense, the Future Center is also transformative: a place that makes transformation tangible and invites people to help shape it.
• Sustainable: a building geared towards the upcoming transformations, but also a space that contributes to the sustainable, equitable development of societies far beyond Jena and makes questions about the future visible and offers solutions together.